BRITISH hospitals have fewer beds per person than almost every country in Europe, shock figures have revealed.

In a survey of 28 nations the UK came second from bottom — beating only Sweden — with fewer than three beds for every 1,000 Brits.

That is way below the figures for some of Europe’s poorest countries. Even hard-up Bulgaria had seven beds per 1,000 citizens.

Official figures show almost 12,500 operations have been cancelled so far this winter as hospitals ran out of space. The latest data from the European Commission — which saw Germany at No1, with 8.3 beds — has sparked fears of an NHS crisis.